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Our Church are embarking on “40 Days of Community” soon so that means promo material like posters & banners etc. This one rolled out of the printer and bounced onto the walls yesterday…

Find out what “40 Days of Community” is here

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”

So what is “meek?”

Gentle? Humble? Considerate?

Those are some of the words we use to describe someone who is ‘meek’ but last night in our small group i felt we needed to look a bit closer. In John Piper’s sermon on this verse, he asks from the outset “What does meekness have to do with God?”

If being meek is only part of who you are because you were constantly ‘put down’ as a child or because your parents were softly spoken, or because of your metabolism, then what does that have to do with God?

To try and understand the qualities of meekness we looked at Psalm 37. Trusting in God, committing our way to the Lord, being still and waiting patiently for him and refraining from anger and worry…….

Those roll of the tongue easily but i have to continually ask myself if i am really in tune with them, If i really grasp this.

The literal hebrew word for commit means, ‘to roll’ your way onto God. How often do you take the troubles of your day or week and just roll them off your shoulders onto God’s? He wants us to do this…..

James Ch 1 V 19-21 says “19: Know this, my beloved brothers; let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20: for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21: Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

Can we be gentle, humble or considerate without being ‘quick to hear, slow to speak’ or ’slow to anger?’

Can we be any of these things truthfully if we are not trusting in God? If we are not ‘rolling our way’ onto Him? Waiting patiently for him?

If we “get this” perhaps we get closer to being meek……..

The Garvaghy Road dispute can be resolved by the Orange Order never marching their again, the Deputy First Minister has said. Martin McGuinness said he believed it was “not too much to ask” to expect that the Orange Order acquiesce to resident demands not to walk there.

He was speaking after DUP MLA Nelson McCausland accused Garvaghy Road residents of “cultural apartheid”.

I don’t fully understand all the tradition of the Orange Order. I do realise that the membership here in Northern Ireland is huge and includes many Church leaders and Church elders.

There is no doubt that there are a lot of “Christians” within the order and i am sure, some of them are in positions of influence.

A “Christian” organisation would take these words seriously, would they not?

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

‘Christians’ within the orange order should take this seriously should they not?

It’s not my message, it was Jesus who said that…

My previous post was influenced by wednesday nights small group study, as is this one. We haven’t got to this verse yet so i will no doubt come back to it in a few weeks.

But as i read this news this morning, i couldn’t help but think about how Jesus said some things that should turn our world upside down, “IF” we are serious about following him.

“Blessed are the peacemakers”

You may be “backing down” or “swallowing your pride” and you may even look like you are weak!

None of that matters if your intention is peace & the kind of peace Jesus wants us to strive for!

By todays standards & expectations, Jesus would fail miserably as a motivational speaker. He probably wouldn’t sell too many books with words like these….

“Blessed are the poor in spirit”

“Blessed are those who mourn”

Hardly the sugar coated stuff that tickles our ears in the 21st Century! Its not very affirming is it?

John Calvin sums it up well; “He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit.”

But, what about a Christian’s self esteem? What about all the ability you have, all your confidence and self reliance?

Jesus is pointing out firstly – so there can be no confusion amongst his disciples – that there is nothing good in any of us.

If we are to follow Him, everything about us, all our confidence, is to be found in Him only.

Maybe this offends you?

I ‘think’ Jesus knew it would

Help Haiti February 27th – HelpHaitiLive.com from Compassion International on Vimeo.

“Please give me more time” — This is, without a doubt, the most common desire heard from church artists and media folks. Christian artists wish executive leaders would understand that they can’t simply click the “Be Creative” button and then turn it off when they’re done. Creativity comes in the middle of the night, or in the shower, or while they’re mowing their lawn.

“If I say no to you, I feel like I’m saying no to God” — You may think this is crappy theology, but many artists feel like God speaks to the senior leader, then he/she speaks to the staff with God’s message. When I was in pastoral ministry, this was a voice I battled with every day. There is enormous freedom for the artist when an executive leader is secure enough to say, “It’s okay to tell me no.”

“I want you to be pleased with my art” — Artists need to know that executive leaders like the stuff they create. Most artists struggle with the feeling of not being appreciated for the time and effort they expend on a project.

“I wonder if I’m really making a difference” — Artists need to know that their art is impacting the lives of real people, and a key role executive leaders can play is connecting those dots for them. Names and faces help artists make it real and do more to motivate Christian artists than anything else I know.

“I spend more money out of my own pocket than you’ll ever know” — When God plants an artistic idea deep in the heart of a filmmaker or a graphic designer, they can’t not create it. And when there’s no money, the artist pays. I know an artist in my former church who’s paying off a $6,000 Visa balance, spent entirely on video and web projects for that church.

“Ultimately, I want to get this right” — The artists I listen to want desperately to do whatever is best. They’re willing to change and revise their art. They just don’t want a constant re-envisioning of their art to become the norm during the life cycle of the project. I’ve heard countless stories about teaching pastors who excessively play the “God card” as a reason for changing their entire direction for a series, and then telling the staff to scrap what they’ve already done and start over. Will this happen on occasion? Yes, and artists need to deal with it. But should it ever become the norm? Not if you want to honor artists and creatives.

Read the full article here

“The institutional churches are human structures. They bring with them all of the failings of the human condition. In their internal processes and in the myriad maze of man-made rules and regulations, they sometimes lose their core message – the Jesus message.”

“The core message of Jesus is relevant in today’s world. It retains the ability to motivate countless billions of people two thousand years after his execution.

If adhered to there would be no conflict, no hunger and no poverty in the world today. No wonder they crucified him.”

Gerry Adams speaking about Jesus, you can read his full blog post here

Cherith told me about this quote on John’s blog tonight….

“The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. He has staked His kingdom on men. He has trusted His Gospel to men. He has given His Spirit to men. The Church is on the search for new methods, new plans, new buildings, new organisations, but “the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His” (2Ch 16:9). The Holy Ghost does not come upon methods, but upon men. He does not anoint machinery, but men. He does not work through organisations, but through men. He does not dwell in buildings, but in men. He indwells the Body of Christ, directs its activities, distributes its forces, empowers its members.” – Samuel Chadwick

This sums up 2009 for me.

In the midst of busyness and things that were a waste of my time, I discovered that i needed to be a better man!

I’ve been trying that out & will continue to in 2010………

I was listening to Bruce Springsteen this morning and pondering some recent comments, remarks and discussion about Christian Bookshops.

The passion in Bruce’s voice as he sings “We’ve got one last chance to make it real” on Thunder Road jumped out at me. The passion on the whole ‘Born to Run’ album is inspiring, but thats another post.

“We’ve got one last chance to make it real”

What if that was true? What if it was true yet all we can manage to do is criticise and complain, instead of actually taking the chance to “make it real?” As drastic changes take place in the UK Christian retail trade, my prayer is that those in positions of power act as if it was the last chance to make it real.

As my employers move ahead with the many changes in our organisation that have been ongoing, my prayer is that they do so as if they had one last chance to make it real for our customers.

As we lead our Church small group, my prayer is that we do it as though it was our one last chance to make it real for the folks in our group….but also for ourselves.

Perhaps as you work your job? serve in your Church? Be a husband or wife? Be a parent? Be a friend?

The list of possibilities are endless but wouldn’t it be great if we lived life as if we had “one last chance to make it real.”

Collectively these two bozos have a photography business called navyblur.

Ok, they aren’t bozos! They are in fact very cool, creative and lovely people.

He is Xander, she is Christine and they take amazing photographs.

The name navyblur has been splishing and splashing around my flickr, my twitter and blog pages for a while now. Why you ask?

I’ve been having a fun time designing their ’soon to be launched’ navyblur website and can’t wait to see it online now. They are also two of the louder members of our small group! (joke, you knew that)

In 2009 these guys were part of a group of creative kids in our Church who have inspired me considerably. Ok, we are not all kids, some of us are over 30, yikes!

The increase in photography related blog posts is also a little bit their fault, we are planning a business of our own called ‘Redhaze’ and then further down the line, we will merge with them and call ourselves ‘rainbow explosion.’ You know, i am being silly here so this post isn’t too soppy………

Seriously though, these guys are amazingly talented and like i said, i cannot wait to blog more about them, learn about Jesus with them and become a better photographer because of them in 2010

©navyblur 2009

Lets be clear on one thing which iv told you before….

“Im rubbish at book reviews” so don’t hold your breath for one here!

In fact, im rubbish at reading books! I read lots of parts of books and get bored of them, then i pick them up again and eventually i sometimes finish books! Usually i don’t though..

“Flickering pixels are the tiny dots of light that make up the screens of life – from TV’s to cell phones. They are invisible, but they change us. In this provocative book, author Shane Hipps takes readers beneath the surface of things to see how the technologies we use end up using us……..”

Cherith bought me this for Christmas, do you think she is trying to tell me something?

I guess if i manage to read it all in one sitting i may learn something. I managed 2 chapters last night and so far so good, i think im on track with what he is saying…….

Relevant Magazine rated it their ‘best book of 2009′ here

Some of the material in this book was previously published in ‘The hidden power of electronic culture’ and i think a few people i know have read it…

So, Carlos is shooting for his new EPK and a homeless guy walks over, kneels down starts to sing……..

At the end of the encounter, this happens

“If you listen carefully at the end you hear me saying this to Danny.
“Keep trying to make it man.”
He looked me square in the eye…cocked his head sideways with a confused look on his face…and said,
“Trying to make it? No man. I ain’t trying to make it…I’m making it. Jah puts His soldiers everywhere. Jah says, Yea though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death… So He places some of us, in that valley.”

see the full post here

This is 2009, you may have noticed things like email, twitter, facebook or even telephones. The phone’s are especially great because they are a handy pocket size and some can even pick up your emails and link to twitter and facebook on a thing called the internet!!

Ok, i am being a little sarcastic but you get the point i hope!

Why are we so bad at communication? Over the last few weeks iv watched the online news about IBS-STL, Wesley Owen etc (read more here) and been amazed at the alleged lack of communication. I say alleged because i see the news second hand, but the conflicting accounts of what has been going on are astounding!

My point is not to criticise this situation too heavily – though it does appear to be a shambles of epic proportions – but more to say that my overall experience of ‘Christian organisations’ communicating info to the outside world, is awful!

A few years ago i expressed my feelings about blogs, social networking and online media being dismissed all to easily, in the life of ‘Christian organisations’ and the ‘Church’ to a lot of people. Largely i felt like i was trying to sell a dead duck, even though i wasn’t selling anything. The reason i believed it then & the reason i believe it now is because it works!

Take for example, the “Press Release”

Its DEAD, thats D.E.A.D. in case you missed it! It doesn’t matter if you release it at the right time or not, its a corpse, and if its a printed one, its a waste of paper and ink!

There has never been an easier time to communicate a message to your staff, followers, congregation or friends than now! Its on a plate and so many organisations and Church’s push the plate away, saying “we would never use that.” Wrong!

Your staff, your followers, congregation and friends are using it and in doing so are making you look like a tyrannosaurus rex with an old type writer! Here is the best part though, even though you don’t realise this, your message doesn’t have to change!

If you don’t change how you communicate your message, everybody will eventually stop listening…….i promise you that much!

©navyblur 2009

©navyblur 2009

“A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age methods to our relations with God. We read our chapter, have our short devotions, and rush away, hoping to make up for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from afar. The tragic results of this spirit are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities, quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic personality for the power of the Spirit; these and such as these are the symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.”

A.W. Tozer

Last weekend in Church we had another push at promoting the Laser Groups, here is the first of the images that were displayed….

©navyblur 2009

I’ll post some more of them over the next few weeks……..

Laser Group? What, i hear you say? In short that is the name given to our “Church small groups.” You can read the official Church blurb here

I indicated in my last post that i wanted to share the journey of our group here, on my blog. There are clearly issues surrounding that and i know at least two people in the group read my blog so im not about to share everyones personal info to the online world!

A couple of years ago i would not have went near a small group. Clearly over the past few years my views have evolved a bit, as i now find myself leading a group! Only God could have brought about that change! Already we have enjoyed getting to know the folks in our group, and not just in a “im the leader and you are my group” kind of way!

I grew up in “Church” and my experience is, that until i was in my 20’s i had no idea what fellowship or community looked like. True Fellowship is not an occasional meal or coffee with someone in your ‘church’ and living in community cannot be achieved if you limit contact with your brothers and sisters to a few moments conversation on a sunday! I am still learning these things slowly, but having looked at what our small groups do, and having got on board with the vision for them, i really do see the journey towards fellowship and community stretching out ahead of us. It’s not an easy road though, when people are involved it never is, but, we are truly thankful for an amazing group of gifted and exciting people to share the journey with at this point.

As i said, sharing the journey here has problems and i will not share personal stuff publicly but i will try to share some of what we are learning and discussing as we go…….

What about you?

Do you do small groups, home groups? How do you do it? Does it work for you?

Recorded before Matt Chandler went into surgery and played back to the Church he Pastor’s over the weekend, you gotta see this……….